Is Dylan Carlson [Red] #285 worth grading?

Baseball · Baseball Cards 2021 Topps · full price guide →

Grading rarely pays for this card

Grade 9.5 copies of Dylan Carlson [Red] #285 sell for $22.00, only $0.00 above the $120 raw price — less than an economy-tier grading fee. A PSA 9 ($19.72) sells for less than raw, so anything short of a 10 loses money. Keep it raw unless you are grading for the slab itself.

Raw (NM): $120
Grade 9.5: $22.00
PSA 9: $19.72
Gem premium: 0.2×
As of: Sep 3, 2026

Break-even by outcome and fee

Dylan Carlson [Red] #285: net result of grading versus selling raw, by outcome and fee tier
If it comes back…	Sells for	Economy / bulk (~$25.00)	Standard (~$50.00)	Express (~$150)
Gem — Grade 9.5	$22.00	−$123	−$148	−$248
PSA 9	$19.72	−$125	−$150	−$250

Net = sale price − $120 raw value − fee. Fee tiers are illustrative; plug your grader's current price into the calculator below.

Expected value — how often does it need to gem?

Dylan Carlson [Red] #285: expected value of submitting by gem probability
Chance it gems	Expected sale	Expected net (standard fee)
25%	$20.29	−$150
50%	$20.86	−$149
75%	$21.43	−$148

At the standard fee this submission does not break even at any realistic gem rate unless the miss lands above the 9 price.

Full grade ladder

Raw conditions & history →

Dylan Carlson [Red] #285 graded prices by company and grade
Grade	Graded
9.5	$22.00
9	$19.72

Run your own numbers

Should I pay this?

Asking priceGrading fee

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